Pardal will join UB on June 12 in preparation for taking charge from Ramamurthy and familiarise with the business. He will hold office as MD for a period of five years which will be extendable based on approval of the shareholders theerafter.

VW said it will invest 1 billion euros to take a 50% stake in the state-owned parent of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC Motors), also raising its stake in an existing electric vehicle joint venture with JAC to 75% from 50%.

German luxury-car maker Mercedes announced that it will set up a 1,500-bed temporary hospital near Pune for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The company also supported the Grant Medical Foundation (Ruby Hall Clinic) directly by donating ventilators.

Siemens AG has abandoned its earnings forecast for the ongoing financial year as the Covid-19 pandemic has affected demand and led to a decline in profit. The India operations also witnessed a decline in sales and profit, and deferment of orders in the March quarter, and the management expects the June quarter to be challenging.

SoftBank is widely expected to try and monetise its T-Mobile stake as it looks to raise $41 billion through asset sales to prop up its floundering tech investing empire and fund a record share buyback.

UBS has been boosting its investments in India over the last few years. From initially focusing the country as a market, it is increasingly tapping India as a delivery location for its technology spend.

The auto industry has been particularly damaged by the pandemic, with lockdowns shutting dealerships and factories and crimping supply chains. Several large automakers threw out forecasts for the year, unsure of how long the impact would last.

Apart from the labor shortages and slack demand, small businesses are living with the threat they’ll be shut down for several weeks if a single infection is detected, forcing them to proceed with caution.